If the UFC is to measure itself against Vancouver hockey, it might as well compare itself to water, food or air.

Hockey, UFC president Dana White said, is “like a religion” in Vancouver. So it’s no surprise this past weekend’s UFC 131 event may have been a bit overshadowed by the Canucks and the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

White, though, said if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing about UFC 131 and the company’s trip to Vancouver.

“If I could change the date again, I wouldn’t change it,” said White, who attended Game Five of the finals on the eve of UFC 131 at Rogers Arena. “It’s great. We all got to go to the hockey game [on Friday]. What sucks about that?”

But wasn’t it disappointing to share the spotlight? After all, 24 hours before UFC 131, downtown Vancouver was filled with Canucks fans who were celebrating a 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins. (And it wasn’t even the series’ final game.)
UFC 131 was an afterthought.

“You’re talking about one city,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “People weren’t dancing in the streets anywhere else but here. It’s different. Hockey is extremely popular up here. It’s like a religion up here to these guys. But you get out of Canada, people aren’t going that crazy over it. Even in Boston, the Bruins are in the playoffs, but there’s not a lot of hockey fans there – not if you put them up against the Patriots, the Celtics and the Red Sox. Not even close.”

UFC 131, which featured Junior Dos Santos’ decision win over Shane Carwin in the headliner, was the organization’s seventh event in Canada. However, it ranked dead last in attendance (14,685) and live gate ($2.8 million). It also followed a Canadian event (UFC 129 in Toronto) that utterly destroyed UFC and North American MMA records for attendance and live gate.

Still, the UFC 131 numbers would be strong in just about any other market, and prior to Saturday’s event, UFC Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright assured MMAjunkie.com Radio that UFC officials were “really happy” with ticket sales.

In fact, White said playing second fiddle to the Canucks was actually an improvement.

“Have you ever seen us in the U.S.?” he joked. “We’re like the redheaded stepchild of sports in the U.S. We have been for the last 10 years. It’s actually weird coming and saying, ‘Wait, are we the second fiddle?’ That’s actually more weird.

“[UFC 131] was a great event. Everything worked out perfect, and it was a big sports weekend for Vancouver.”